SANTA MONICA, CA: The California Supreme Court said today it will review the constitutionality of the state’s arbitrary 39-year-old damages cap of $250,000 in medical malpractice cases in Hughes v. Pham. Last week, Consumer Watchdog wrote an amicus letter asking the Court to review Hughes and overturn this decades-old injustice.
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SANTA MONICA, CA: Consumer Watchdog has joined the plaintiffs in Hughes v. Pham in asking that the California Supreme Court review the constitutionality of the state’s arbitrary 39-year-old damages cap of $250,000 in medical malpractice cases. Even though a jury awarded the injured plaintiff millions in noneconomic damages for his permanent...

The election day drubbing of Proposition 46, an initiative that would have increased limits on certain medical malpractice damages, marks a stinging defeat for the state's trial attorneys, who championed the measure.
The defeat caps years of declining influence for one of the Democratic Party's most stalwart allies. Even in deep blue...

The most disturbing trend in the financing of American political campaigns is not the magnitude of the money being spent. It’s that more and more of that money is not going through the campaigns themselves — where donations must be disclosed and limited — but from nonprofit groups that are being set up for the express purpose of...

Issues ranging from abortion to gambling to medical marijuana go before voters
Editor’s note: The Center for Public Integrity tracked political advertising in races for the U.S. Senate, state-level offices and state ballot measures. Use these three interactive features to see who was calling the shots and where...

SACRAMENTO — Voters overwhelmingly passed the two state ballot measures pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown: A $7.5 billion water bond that will pay for water recycling and new storage systems but do little to bring relief to Californians affected by the drought, and a rainy day fund designed to cushion the state during financial hard times.
Prop 1...

LOS ANGELES -- Proposition 46, a wide-ranging initiative that included raising the 1975 limit on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, was defeated today.
Proposition 46 author Bob Pack said the campaign on behalf of the initiative "opened the eyes of all Californians about patient safety," but "faced deep-...

So much for populism. At least when it comes to fighting the interests of big-money corporations.
In every vote this week pitting the interests of ordinary Californians against those of large companies, the corporate interests won big. Big bucks essentially convinced millions to vote against their own best interests.
This was an unfettered triumph...

It's hard to imagine that anyone in California had a worse election night than the folks at Consumer Watchdog. The non-profit advocacy group lost not one but two ballot propositions — seeing both Proposition 45 and 46 go down to defeat by wide margins.
Proposition 45 would have given the insurance commissioner the power to reject...